1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a urine sampler for use in conducting urinalysis at schools, hospitals, test centers and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Urinalysis, a test that can provide important information for early detection of diseases of the internal organs and otherwise determining the state of the subject's health, can be conducted with no discomfort to the subject and with minimal trouble to those conducting the test. This has led hospitals and test centers to routinely test the urine of large numbers of new patients, persons having medical checkups, hospitalized patients and others.
Ordinarily, the subject goes to a toilet to collect a urine sample in a paper cup and then either places the cup on a designated shelf in a lavatory or dips a test paper into the urine and places only the wetted test paper at a designated place. After a prescribed number of the paper cups containing the samples have been collected from the designated lavatories etc. and brought to the laboratory, the samples are analyzed.
This conventional method of analyzing urine samples collected in paper cups has a number of drawbacks. One is that some people have difficulty getting the urine into the paper cup. This is particularly true of female and elderly persons, who frequently also get urine on their hands and clothing. The method thus has a sanitation problem. In addition, much care is required in handling the collected samples because there is a danger of tipping over the cup when immersing a test paper in the urine or of spilling urine from the cup when carrying it to the designated place.
When, as is frequently the case, a large number of urine samples are tested throughout the day, the wide-mouthed cups, which have to be placed side by side, take up considerable space so that a fairly large area has to be reserved for storing them until the time of testing. There is also a danger of losing all or part of the contents of some of the cups by dropping or tilting them at the time of moving them to the laboratory. This not only fouls the surroundings but may make it impossible to test some samples. Another problem is that many subjects collect larger samples than necessary. As a result, when the samples of a large number of subjects are brought together, they produce a pungent odor which may distract and lower the working efficiency of the doctors, nurses and other personnel who conduct the urinalysis.